Providing assistance for older homeless women in San Francisco

Based upon estimates from the city government, there are approximately 200 women over the age of 50 living on the streets of San Francisco.

Women of this age group often fall between the cracks of the services provided by the city and other service organizations. These women have difficulty accessing services, do not feel safe in the shelters and are often easy targets for those that steal or wish to do harm.

VeraMax House is a 501c3 not-for-profit, established to serve homeless women age 55 and over. We help these women by developing a relationship with them individually. We listen to their stories, try to get a real understanding of how they got to where they are and what is keeping them there. Then we help them access the services they need, not just by giving them referrals, but by helping them navigate these systems to get their needs met. We also provide therapy to help women effect real change in their lives. We may not be able to end all homelessness, but we can make a true and lasting difference in individual lives, giving these women the compassion, respect and assistance they need and deserve.

We opened our doors in June of 2009. In partnership with the Mary Elizabeth Inn, we’ve established an office in their Homeless Women’s Center on Bush and Jones in Downtown San Francisco. With private donations we first hired one part-time employee to provide case management, therapy and outreach. There are now two clinical case managers who share one part-time position. The clinical case managers staff the Homeless Women’s Resource Center four days per week.